Most recent activity
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A Legacy Company image showing the 2012 consented plan for the Velopark.
Thinking about access to the velodrome during transformation phases:-
To the R of the picture, S of the Velodrome there will be a complete new residential quarter, which is yet to be built.
To the E of the site (top R) the Olympic Lifeline road has to be removed in order to provide clear access for riders to the 'eastern lands' that were bartered inbetween the 2011 and 2012 planning revisions. This road gives access to Westfield and has significant utilities underneath.
N and W of the velodrome will see significant hard landscaping changes to put in the road circuit. (the underpass at the velodrome's NW corner was included in 2007 and 2009 permissions associated with the velodrome because planning for the circuit was inherent in all plans. You may have noted storage containers at circuit-level when you were there in Games mode).
A bridge has to be brought in to match the construction bridge already in place (which was held in place specifically and only for the road circuit, instead of being removed as planned). We already know where the bridge will be coming from, but this will take time and requires space to install...Landscaping and repurposing the surrounding parklands will take significant time.
BMX has to be 'flattened' from present Supercross layout
All tribunes and stands removed
Games-time utility runs removed or repurposed
Roads, paths and car-parking installed
Landforms preprared and planted, with off-road trails built
and so on...Just one important consideration: Emergency Services access to the velodrome will be highly limited during the time of roads and residential construction. It would not be possible to open if fire service or ambulances can't get in.
- We all want the transformation work to be done properly and as soon as possible.
Whilst not going along with the official line on everything, it's informative to read this release from the Legacy Corp
http://www.londonlegacy.co.uk/legacy-company-plans-approved-for-%E2%80%98world-class%E2%80%99-velopark/
and look at this hi-res images showing wider views than the above pic.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/42536806/Transformation/Cam_25_Final.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/42536806/Transformation/Cam_31_Final.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/42536806/Transformation/Cam_28_Final.jpgThere is a lot to be done all around that lovely velodrome.
While you're waiting, is there anything you think would help the thing be choc-full with sessions from day 1? It won't hurt us to ask!
Operational considerations are a concern:
Our worry was always the limited capacity of a velodrome, which is one reason why Eastway Users were not prepared to go along with the ready-made plan to get one in 'pre-build' as part of the Games bid. From Manchester and Newport, we learned they manage around 18 rider episodes per hour at max capacity so the operator will be tempted to balance demand with price, or to offer diluted sessions where riders have to wait long periods between on-track activity. Whatever your level there will be a lot of demand and it won't only be from Joe Public, since hte national development programme riders, national / international events and 'private' sessions will take chunks of every day.- The sooner you organise and agree on session formats, the more likely you will be able to negotiate a slot. My advice would be to NOT wait and let others run the place in ways you might not support.
From what we've learned, the Park Authority will seek to operate the Velopark's amenities in ways we haven't seen before. Knowledge of this is limited because they won't meet with the Users' Group yet. Sorry I can't shed any more light, but you can be sure the questions have been asked. - Any thoughts from this forum?
[BTW my name is Michael Humphreys]
- We all want the transformation work to be done properly and as soon as possible.
-
A Legacy Company image showing the 2012 consented plan for the Velopark.
Thinking about access to the velodrome during transformation phases:-
To the R of the picture, S of the Velodrome there will be a complete new residential quarter, which is yet to be built.
To the E of the site (top R) the Olympic Lifeline road has to be removed in order to provide clear access for riders to the 'eastern lands' that were bartered inbetween the 2011 and 2012 planning revisions. This road gives access to Westfield and has significant utilities underneath.
N and W of the velodrome will see significant hard landscaping changes to put in the road circuit. (the underpass at the velodrome's NW corner was included in 2007 and 2009 permissions associated with the velodrome because planning for the circuit was inherent in all plans. You may have noted storage containers at circuit-level when you were there in Games mode).
A bridge has to be brought in to match the construction bridge already in place (which was held in place specifically and only for the road circuit, instead of being removed as planned). We already know where the bridge will be coming from, but this will take time and requires space to install...Landscaping and repurposing the surrounding parklands will take significant time.
BMX has to be 'flattened' from present Supercross layout
All tribunes and stands removed
Games-time utility runs removed or repurposed
Roads, paths and car-parking installed
Landforms preprared and planted, with off-road trails built
and so on...Just one important consideration: Emergency Services access to the velodrome will be highly limited during the time of roads and residential construction. It would not be possible to open if fire service or ambulances can't get in.
- We all want the transformation work to be done properly and as soon as possible.
Whilst not going along with the official line on everything, it's informative to read this release from the Legacy Corp
http://www.londonlegacy.co.uk/legacy-company-plans-approved-for-%E2%80%98world-class%E2%80%99-velopark/
and look at this hi-res images showing wider views than the above pic.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/42536806/Transformation/Cam_25_Final.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/42536806/Transformation/Cam_31_Final.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/42536806/Transformation/Cam_28_Final.jpgThere is a lot to be done all around that lovely velodrome.
While you're waiting, is there anything you think would help the thing be choc-full with sessions from day 1? It won't hurt us to ask!
Operational considerations are a concern:
Our worry was always the limited capacity of a velodrome, which is one reason why Eastway Users were not prepared to go along with the ready-made plan to get one in 'pre-build' as part of the Games bid. From Manchester and Newport, we learned they manage around 18 rider episodes per hour at max capacity so the operator will be tempted to balance demand with price, or to offer diluted sessions where riders have to wait long periods between on-track activity. Whatever your level there will be a lot of demand and it won't only be from Joe Public, since hte national development programme riders, national / international events and 'private' sessions will take chunks of every day.- The sooner you organise and agree on session formats, the more likely you will be able to negotiate a slot. My advice would be to NOT wait and let others run the place in ways you might not support.
From what we've learned, the Park Authority will seek to operate the Velopark's amenities in ways we haven't seen before. Knowledge of this is limited because they won't meet with the Users' Group yet. Sorry I can't shed any more light, but you can be sure the questions have been asked. - Any thoughts from this forum?
[BTW my name is Michael Humphreys]
- We all want the transformation work to be done properly and as soon as possible.
-
Also worth noting the 2012 road circuit plan demands a new bridge over the Lea, where the earlier plan used the existing structures.
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I'm one of the people who's been campaigning since 2003 to secure relocation and legacy for the 'derelict site' that was Eastway. I called Seb Coe to the Planning Inquiry for cross-examination and I've been to many many meetings with the planners and politicos to get planning conditions, space, funding and the will to get our provision sorted through the Games build and beyond. - It's been a long time. Maybe some of the issues have become a bit obscure, but you can be sure there is a firm place in the legacy parklands only because of the Eastway Users' Group.
Considering where we're at now;-
One of the superficial issues is the amount of work that needs doing to remove the temporary structures, and it can't all be done at the same time. They haven't started on the Hockey or BMX tribunes as far as I can see. However the scene in Greenwich Park is very different, as they obviously have an early deadline to meet for the equestrian arena's removal.
Temporary structures are not the real issue, as the Velopark comes with the complication of developers needing to work on the closely adjacent sites. We objected to how tightly the developments approached the Velopark boundary, and how some actually moved it aside, but we have an agreed plan that gained consent earlier this year. This ;encroachment' is a drag and might entail a delay in opening-up the area, but it does mean the developers all want the park to be completed before they sell the units, and that will be as soon as possible too.It gets more complicated: There have been several plans. 2007 gave us nothing of any worth outside the velodrome. The plan agreed in 2009 was carefully worked out with the same architect as the velodrome, but that was never going to be built by the Legacy Company that worked-up its own plan in 2011 to satisfy developer partners first.
As a result of combined objection to the 2011 plans, made by EUG, Sport England and British Cycling we re-opened discussions with the Legacy Company (now an Urban Development Corporation) to get the plans changed and things moved round. This means the 2012 Velopark layout entails removing a section of the Olympic Lifeline road, which must be re-routed to give access to Westfield's car parks and the new residential quarters. Utilities under the road have to remain in place.Were things to drag out, the Lee Valley Park, which owns the land has every reason to get it completed. They are definitely wanting to get the legacy funding spent in the right way and to the agreed timescale.
In 2004 and 2009 we secured planning conditions which insist the legacy must be completed by the end of 2014. That is the final backstop, but if the work has to be done, it may as well be done to the agreed timescales which say end of 2013.- Which does not seem so bad, when you reckon how much there is to get done. The landscaping and planting is bound to take a while to stabillise, and that's last on a list of some quite significant groundworks.
Every meeting about the legacy opening has always heard the same thing from Lee Valley Park - After their experience with the Broxbourne White Water centre they will never again be forced into opening before they are ready. They have been consistently saying they would not do a partial opening, especially because the velodrome sits in the middle of the park, and so will be in the midst of a construction site at first, with developments going on all around and requiring use of the access roads.. Then they want 'around six months' to prove their systems, train staff and generally get ready for the public opening, which was the big problem they hit with the Broxbourne centre which was jammed solid with people from day 1.
They are not being definite on any opening date, preferring to say 'around the end of 2013'. - When you consider the amount of work, and the separate capital projects involved, the landscaping and the commissioning of operations and equipment at the Velopark, this isn't a long time to wait.
Be patient. We've been working for you on this since 2003, when Eastway was described as 'derelict' and a deal had been done for us to get nothing apart from a biscuit tin velodrome that was to be built by 2005 to count towards London's Olympic bid. We got a right to relocation and to legacy, and so far it's worked out OK after only a few occasions on which we have had to raise hell and mount publicity campaigns.
If the programme starts to slip beyond 2013 we will be there again, but this isn't the time to start action on opening any earlier.
Bring it on! I'll be there on my bike.
- Which does not seem so bad, when you reckon how much there is to get done. The landscaping and planting is bound to take a while to stabillise, and that's last on a list of some quite significant groundworks.
Absoilutely agree with anyone who's on here to digest and think about ways to contribute to the debate. All comments are welcome, as long as you're prepared to actually do stuff before you just turn up and ride!
There's a lot of 'churn' in the people who are committed to cycle sport at any one time. This is totally normal and I would like to think I remember how it was my first time at Eastway with my then 8 or 9 year-old son, when my jaw dropped to discover such a stunning place that was so little known. I would want to have been heard then, if the circuit was to be demolished because that's where we learned the most about riding and the fun of all the different disciiplines.
The second that velodrome opens there will be lots more new people along and they all need to have a say in what could be put on for people to take part. There possibly should not be too much place for the 'way things were' because that wasn't always terribly successful or inclusive. (We're not all rose-tinted here...)
Organisers and promoters should have to fight their corner to be be the best, but if they are simply having to compete against things like corporate days, elite national squad block-outs or 'Etape intensive training' on track or road circuit, it's obvious they won't have the money.
Couple more thoughts:-
Gravesend CycloPark's biggest earner is the StreetSkate area, then it's the BMX, then the road and MTB trails.- Largely inverse relation with the building costs.
In terms of revenues serving the capital assets, it's hard to see how you can make a £120m+ velodrome hit payback unless you work the public seating for all it's worth, which means a range of events in the schedule that will bring a degree of disruption to participatory sessions. The intention now is to keep the velodrome just for cycling events and to take the capital cost on the chin, but who's to know what could happen as finances later come under scrutiny?